The 1975’s Matty Healy leaves Twitter after Lucy Dacus hits back at ableist post
Dacus responded after Healy used an ableist slur in a joke about her band Boygenius.
By Nick Reilly
The 1975‘s Matty Healy has deleted his X/Twitter account after Lucy Dacus hit back at the singer’s use of an ableist slur.
Posting on his account @mattyfrnglomg, the singer shared a post about Boygenius – Dacus’ band with frequent 1975 collaborator Phoebe Bridgers.
“I told Lucy Dacus that ‘Boygenius’ had inspired me and [The 1975 drummer] George [Daniel] to start a new band called ‘Girlretard’. I don’t really hear from her that often,” wrote Healy.
Dacus replied: “You don’t hear from me at all.”
Healy then referenced the incident by writing ‘yeah this never goes well does it’, before de-activating his account.
The latest controversy to hit the singer comes months after he kissed bassist Ross McDonald on stage at a Malaysian music festival and criticised the country’s LGBTQ+ laws – leading to the event’s entire cancellation.
At the gig, Healy apologized to fans for accepting Good Vibes’ invitation to play, saying he was unaware of Malaysia’s hardline stance toward the LGBTQ community; same-sex relationships are outlawed in the country and punishable by prison time and caning.
“I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it,” Healy said. “I don’t see the fucking point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
Healy continued, “I am sorry if that offends you and you’re religious and it’s part of your fucking government, but your government are a bunch of fucking retards and I don’t care anymore. If you push, I am going to push back. I am not in the fucking mood.”
He is now facing a lawsuit from local Malaysian musicians and traders who say the group’s actions and consequent festival cancellation led to a significant loss of earnings.
In June, Rina Sawayama also hit out at Healy for controversial comments he made on a podcast last February.
The singer, who is signed to the same record label as Healy’s band, hit out at The 1975’s frontman while introducing a performance of her song ‘STFU!’ at Glastonbury.
“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of micro-aggressions. So, tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches [pornography show] Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough,” said Sawayama.
The podcast, hosted by Adam Friedland, saw Healy mock the heritage of rapper Ice Spice, while also explaining how he watched the pornography mentioned by Sawayama. Referring to one scene, Healy explained how it “brutalised” women.
Both The 1975 and Sawayama are signed to Dirty Hit, the label run by Healy’s manager Jamie Oborne.
Sawayama then doubled down weeks later during a performance at Portugal’s NOS Alive festival, asking or an apology from “some people” who she believed to be guilty of making sexist and racist comments.
“So I was thinking a lot about apologies,” she said, speaking to the crowd towards the end of performing her track ‘STFU’. “It’s just funny how some people get away with not apologising ever… For saying some racist shit. For saying some sexist shit.”
She added: “So let’s try this”, as the intro of Limp Bizkit’s furious ‘Break Stuff’ played in the background, “Why don’t you apologise for once in your life without making it about your fucking self?”
The 1975 will next hit the road for a sold-out UK tour in 2024, taking in four shows at London’s o2 Arena among other dates.